CWUR 1-60-005 Assistant Attorney General

The assistant attorney general is the assigned legal advisor to the university.

(1) Functions and Responsibilities. All functions and responsibilities are in accordance with the statutes of the state of Washington RCW 28B.10.510 and 43.10.060.

(A) Location and assignment. The assistant attorney general has an office at Central Washington University. Where special circumstances warrant it, the attorney general occasionally appoints a special assistant attorney general to perform special legal assignments on behalf of the university under the supervision of the attorney general’s office. The assistant attorney general(s) assigned to the university are directly responsible through the head of the education division or the labor and personnel division to the attorney general and his or her chief deputy.

(B) Responsibility. All legal matters pertaining to the university must be handled by the attorney general’s Central Washington University office in coordination with the chief of staff who is responsible for overall coordination with the assistant attorney generals and is to be included on all correspondence, issues, settlement discussions and decisions, or briefings.

(2) Coordination of interaction with the assistant attorney general. To minimize duplicative requests and to ensure coordination of issues that may be dealt with by various departments dealing with related issues or staff, information requested from the assistant attorney general is coordinated by the chief of staff (CofS). Requests for legal assistance should provide sufficient background information, along with a proposed timeline for a response. The following provides coordination of request for legal assistance and the coordinator who should determine whether or not to contact the chief of staff regarding the need for assistance from the assistant attorney general:

(3) Personnel involved in legal processes related to university business

When any employee is served notice of a legal process related to university business, the following procedures should be implemented;

(A) Employee Responsibility. In any instance where a university employee is served a subpoena or other legal process related to university business, the employee should immediately inform the assistant attorney general’s office and the chief of staff of this fact. This procedure does not apply to cases where the relation of the employee to the legal proceeding is purely personal.

(B) Statutory authority. According to the statutes of the state of Washington, the board of trustees may authorize the attorney general to defend a claim, suit, or proceeding brought against an employee, officer, or agent of the university arising out of the performance or failure of performance for, or employment with, the university when such person requests through the chief of staff to the board to so authorize and when the board has determined that such person was acting in good faith. When such a request has been authorized, any obligation for payment arising from such action shall be paid from state funds as prescribed by statute.

(C) Request for defense. Whenever an employee of the university has a claim, suit, or proceeding brought against him/her which he/she believes arises out of his performance or failure of performance for, or employment with, the university and wants it defended by the attorney general, the employee should submit through his/her immediate supervisor and vice president a written request addressed to the board of trustees requesting the board to authorize the attorney general to provide such defense. The request is to be submitted to the chief of staff who will forward a copy of the request to the Central Washington University office of the attorney general. Such request should include a copy of the claim, complaint or other document asserting claim against the employee, a brief statement of the circumstances giving rise to the claim, and a statement by the employee evidencing that any actions on his/her part which might have given rise to the claim were taken in good faith. Such request should be made within 10 days after receipt by the employee of any written notice that a claim is being asserted against him/her.

(D) Investigation of request for defense. The first supervisory officer above the employee who has not had a claim asserted against him/her by the same claimant arising from the same circumstances shall investigate the matter to determine whether or not the employee was acting in good faith, and shall forward the results and recommendation of his/her investigation up through the supervisory chain to the vice president or chief of staff for review. The vice president will forward the request along with their recommendation to the chief of staff. The chief of staff, after review by the president, will present the request to the board of trustees together with a report from the attorney general and any reports and recommendations from supervising officers for the board’s action on the request.

(E) Interim action. The attorney general’s office shall take all necessary steps in the interim to protect the interest of the parties.

(F) Personal Consultation. The assistant attorney generals are not available for personal legal consultation.